Haunting:Continually recurring to the mind....
"haunting memories";
"the cathedral organ and the distant voices have a haunting beauty"Beautiful, but in a sad way
and often in a way which cannot be forgotten:
"a haunting melody"

For
a few years now, we have been asking musicians, composers, and people
from all walks of life to tell us the melodies they find the most
haunting. What follows are MIDI files of the melodies chosen so far,
in no particular order. You can download a collection of 18 of these melodies in MP3 towards the bottom of the page.

This is
an ongoing project, so please feel free to send us an e-mail
to tell us your most haunting melody.

(Note-) Remember, these files below are only humble MIDI files,
and MIDI files will sound different on each system depending upon
the software and sound card you are using, but they will give you
an idea of the melodies. MIDI files can also be downloaded and used in most standard music notation programs.

If you are interested in a higher audio quality MP3 collection of many of these unique melodies, see below.

Lament
For Owen Christie- Jim Stewart, of St. John, New Brunswick
(that's in Canada *Grin*) wrote a tune called Lament for Owen Christie,
in memory of the Irish immigrants that came to Canada during the potato
famine in the 1800s. Many of them are buried on an island in St. John
harbour, and Owen Christie is the name on one of the graves.

The Great Silkie- This ballad originated in the Orkney Islands. A "silkie"
is a supernatural being who lives in the sea. They wear sealskins
to travel through the ocean, and take them off when they are on land.Summer Is Coming(Ta ar Samhradh Teacht) - Old Irish Tune, Probably sung on
the solstice feasts.

Amanda
- This is a four part choral piece, composed by AmericanRevolutionary
War period composer Justin Morgan, upon the death of his wife in childbirth.

Look To The Rainbow
- From the Musical, "Finian's Rainbow," 1946, by E.Y. Harburg,
and Burton Lane. The lyrics to this song are very nice, so we include
them here....:

On
the day I was born,
Said my father, said he
I've an elegant legacy waiting for ye.
Tis a rhyme for your lips
And a song for your heart
To sing it whenever the world falls apart

(chorus -)
Look, look , look to the rainbow
follow it over the hill and stream
look look look to the rainbow
follow the fellow who follows a dream.

'Twas
a sumptuous giftTo bequeath to a child
Oh, the lure of that song kept me feet running wild
For you never grow old
And you never stand still
With whippoorwills singing beyond the next hill.
(chorus)...

So I pondered my heart
nd I roamed the world free
To the east with the lark
To the west with the sea
And I searched all the earth
And I scanned all the skies
But I found it at last in my own true love's eyes.
(chorus)

Winyadelpa - Sung
by the fairies to Gibbie Laurenson in 1803. From the "Shetland
Folk Book" (volume 2). This interesting tome contains a number
of tunes actually sung by fairies which were collected over the years.

The Skye Boat Song- Charles Edward Stewart, the Young Pretender, was routed by
the Duke of Cumberland on Culloden Moor in 1745. Aided by a Jacobite
heroine, Flora MacDonald, Bonnie Prince Charlie escaped to the island
of Skye in the inner Hebrides. He was finally taken by a French vessel
to Morlaix on the coast of Bretagne. The first half of the tune is
said to be an old sea shanty; the other half is traditionally attributed
to Miss MacLeod. The words to this song were written by Sir Harold
Boulton, in 1884.

HyltadanceA tune sung by the
fairies in Fetlar, 1642. Another tune from the Shetland Folk Book
(volume 2). This interesting tome contains a number of tunes actually
sung by fairies which were collected over the years.
This very short melody is truly hypnotic. I don't know if there is
any direct correlation between the two, but in Gaelic dance and music
fairy folklore the word "haltadans" means the 'limping dance'.
The "Haltadans" is also the name of a stone ring comprising
38 stones originally set edge to edge, enclosing a bank inside which
are two earthfast stones, possibly a Bronze Age cairn. Trows (the
little people) often went there to dance in the light of the full
moon.

Ashokan Farewell- Tune by Jay Ungar, composed in 1982. According to Jay, "Ashokan
Farewell was named for the Ashokan Field Campus of the State University
of New York (in the Catskill Mountains)."
"Ashokan is the name of a town, most of which is now under the
Ashokan Reservoir, a very beautiful and magical body of water that
is across the road from our home. According to our local historian,
Alf Evers, Ashokan first appears in print as a place name in 17th
century Dutch records. He thinks that it may be a corruption of a
local Indian word."

Neil
Gow's Lament (on the death of his 2nd wife) Neil Gow (1727
- 1807) Musician and composer. Born in Inver, Strath Braan, to the
west of Dunkeld (Perth and Kinross), Gow was the son of a weaver.
He became a fine fiddler and regarded as the father of Strathspey
and Reel music, composing many popular tunes. Successive Dukes of
Atholl became his patron. Although Gow was based throughout his life
in Inver, he did give performances as far afield as Edinburgh. Gow
had his portrait painted twice by Henry Raeburn (1756 - 1823) and
these are now in Blair Castle and the National Portrait Gallery in
Edinburgh.Give Me Your Hand(Tabhair
Dom Do Lámh) - A beautiful air, attributed to 17th century
Irish harper Rory Dall O'CathainDumbarton's Drums- Old
traditional Scottish tune

Aith RantA
tune played by a fairy fiddler in Aiths Voe, 1790. Another tune from
the Shetland Folk Book (volume 2). This interesting tome contains
a number of tunes actually sung by fairies which were collected over
the years.

The World's Most Haunting Melodies MP3 Collection We have recorded an MP3 collection of 18 of the above melodies. You can download the collection in the form of a "zip" file for $3.00. After your secure Paypal or credit-card payment has been processed, you will be directed to the download link.

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